HW News - AMD Marketshare, Thermaltake Fights Mayhems

Thermaltake is considering legal embattlement with Mayhems over the use of the word "Pastel" in its upcoming coolant. AMD, separately, has gained CPU marketshare.

Hardware news this week talks Intel fabrication plant expansion, Thermaltake's new legal fight with Mayhems, NVIDIA's over-investment in cryptocurrency, Softbank's withdrawal from NVIDIA, Zen architecture marketshare, and more.

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[genghissaladinbonapartethe]

Dear Gigabyte,
Fix your BIOS, And learn what a phase is.
-Customers

[neoqueto]

Windforce.
Waterforce.
-10% Workforce.

[rndom]

The real problem with Pastel as a trademark is not the specific incident, it is the precedent set. If Thermaltake lets it stand, any generic color references used in any technology product naming could fall victim over the next few years. This might result in $100 in cost today but millions in licensing and legal fees as every similar company moves to trademark fairly generic technology terms in an attempt to seek profit.

On the other hand, Thermaltake could always choose to save the battle for another day or let another manufacturer fight it first...

[anubis]

I'm with TT. Pastel is a generic term. That's like a company trademarking "RGB lighting." It should never have been allowed to be trademarked.

[CrushedLuminary]

Thermaltake could make a product line of coolant called, "Mayhem".

[Excalabur]

Steve you absolute legend, 4K so I got to watch in 1440p!!!

[RaaynML]

I think it's less about using the name Pastel specifically and more about the principle of trademarking a word that is a description of a colour, so Thermaltake might be fighting for the greater good

[FinaISpartan]

It would be really cool if you guys could do a interview with some of the developers of Rebellion Developments (Developers of Sniper Elite 4). Alot of people want to know what makes a game so well optimized and why other major companies can't do it like they can.

[PrincessTS]

i think trademarking a word like pastel is wrong even if its a specific use

[brownrhyno]

i think thermaltake are in the right. trademarking something so generic shouldnt be allowed. it not like they coined the term or developed the language to a specific meaning. and the fact they are offering such a good deal means mayhem probably know they would struggle to win.

[declinox]

OMG a battle between marketing people over a name... they should put them in a ring and let us watch the slap-fight that follows.

[Lukiel]

Thermaltake should take the following two actions. One; donate the money to charity before going to court. Two; attempt to to copyright the words clear, translucent, transparent, opaque etc. with regards to coolant. If they cannot be copyrighted thusly then neither should pastel.

[cracklingice]

I don't like Thermalfake, but I agree that "Pastel" is a common term that should not be capable of being trademarked. Much like pump location shouldn't be patent-able.

[wedgoku]

That trademark lawsuit is really stupid, anyone should be able to use the word "Pastel" on the bottle, you don't see "The Feser Company" or "Koolance" filing pointless lawsuits against other coolent manufactures. Keep in mind TFC & Koolance had blue/black uv coolent before anyone else!

[FranktheTank]

I think Thermaltake may be right in the fact that pastel is a generic term. But one way they could avoid backlash is donating to charity while rejecting their offer and taking them to court to get the trademark removed.

[sapphie]

From what I understood from the IP law course I took, TT is absolutely in the right here. Pastel is a too generic term to use as a brand name, it's just a way to describe colour. If it was for a product where colour is irrelevant, it would be a valid trademark.


But is being right worth the PR disaster?

[SirMeowric]

Thermaltake doesn't want to be extorted into paying to a charity, and somehow that gives them a bad rep? Everyone calls pastel fluids pastel. That's genericized, so TT is in the right.

[socore]

The nonsense about the Pastel...

Thermaltake should donate 100gpb to some charity *AND* still peruse their case.

Pastel describes a class of colors and therefor should not be trademarked...


pas·tel

/paˈstel/
noun
noun: pastel; plural noun: pastels
1.
a crayon made of powdered pigments bound with gum or resin.
a work of art created using pastels.
"a pastel entitled “Girl Braiding Her Hair.”"
2.
a soft and delicate shade of a color.
"the subtlest of pastels and creams"
What gives anyone the right to TM a descriptive noun for a color? Nothing, it's absurd. Should Thermaltake invent a new word to describe their line of coolants that are pastel like? No... that is absurd and unrealistic.


I think it is a GOOD move for Thermaltake and the industry to challenge frivolous patents and trademarks like this.

[joesterling]

Solution for Thermaltake: Give money to charity anyway; continue to challenge the trademarking of an ordinary word.

[TCGView]

If there's one thing Adobe has taught me about their software, it's save early and save often.